Jesus Loves Families

Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn. The 23rd Psalm is one of the very best well-known Psalms in the Bible. King David wrote it. Here's what it says: The Lord is my shepherd. I have everything I need. He gives me rest in green pastures. He leads me to calm water. He gives me new strength. For the good of his name, he leads me on paths that are right. Even if I walk through a very dark valley, I will not be afraid because you are with me. Your rod and your shepherd’s staff comfort me. You prepare a meal for me in front of my enemies. You pour oil of blessing on my head. You give me more than I can hold. Surely your goodness and love will be with me all my life. And I will live in the house of the Lord forever (ICB). Jesus talks about this in the Bible, too. In John 10:11–17 (ICB), He says: “I am the good shepherd. Th...

Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn. Sunday means "day of the sun god," but for us Christians, it's just called the first day of the week. We don't worship the sun god; we worship the one God who created everything. Christians have always met on this day, which we call the Lord's Day, to worship together and share communion.  Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday, which makes this day special. It's not the Sabbath, which is Saturday, but many Christians think of Sunday as a day of rest, too, even though the Bible doesn't say it has to be.  Coming together on Sunday isn't something we can choose to skip. The Bible tells us to meet, take communion, and serve God together. Scripture commands us not to neglect this practice (Hebrews 10:24–25) and specifies that the first day of the week is t...

 PRINCIPLES, PRESENTATION, & ATTITUDES FOR WORSHIPPING GOD (FAMILY DEVO) Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn. Not everyone believes that all religious paths lead to God. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This means that the right way to worship God is through Jesus. Let’s learn six principles that should guide us as we worship in church. (Parents, this is an excellent time to teach your kids what principles are and how we implement them in our lives.) Principle I: God wants people who worship in spirit and truth. This means you should worship God as the Bible teaches: right actions, right attitudes.  Principle II: Treat God with Respect. Just like you would show respect to a king, you should show even more respect to God. Don't do things in wo...

Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn. A typical family arrives at a church on Sunday and sits down. Mom and the kids slide into a pew, and Dad sits at the end near the aisle. They look around at all the new faces and feel a bit uncomfortable.  A young mom with two kids, a little boy of four and a girl who's two and a half, comes to church hoping to get closer to God. She struggles to keep her children quiet, worried she might be bothering others or that her kids might be too noisy.  Families from different church backgrounds come in. They're not used to our way of worshipping, which might confuse them.  We don't want them to feel out of place because if they do, they might not come back. Then there's someone who has never been to church before. They've already faced a lot of fear just to step inside. ...

Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn. Today, we're going to talk about how we can learn to worship God the right way, just like He wants us to. Imagine you're playing a game, and there's a rule book. You want to play the game right, so you read the rules carefully. That's kind of like what we do with the Bible. The Bible is like God's rule book for life and how we should worship Him. The Bible tells us to do our best to understand what it says (2 Timothy 2:15). Think of it like trying to solve a puzzle. We want to put all the pieces in the right spots, not make up our own picture. The puzzle of Scripture has two sections, the Old and New Testaments, and three big steps God used to teach us His whole will for us to live by. The First Step was when God was teaching the very first people on Earth about H...